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Trump attack on press is 'biggest threat to democracy' says ex-Navy Seal chief
To the president they are ‘the enemy’ but William McRaven, an architect of the Bin Laden raid, called the media the republic’s ‘single most important institution’
Spencer Ackerman in New York
@attackerman
Thursday 23 February 2017 14.24 EST
A retired Navy Seal who was an architect of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden has warned that Donald Trump’s attack on the press as an enemy of the American people “may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime”.
Retired admiral William McRaven, the former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command and later the US Special Operations Command, issued his defense of the media during a Tuesday late-afternoon lecture to journalism students at the University of Texas, where he serves as chancellor.
McRaven, himself a journalism graduate of the school, referred to the press as “the single most important institution in this republic” and said: “This may be the most important time for journalism that I have seen in decades. Probably we need you now more than ever before.”
McRaven did not issue a personal criticism of Trump, nor a broader critique of his administration. But he directly referenced “the president” in objecting to Trump’s stated perspective on the US press.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/23/donald-trump-free-press-attacks-democracy-william-mcraven